One of the first things any attacker will attempt to do to you in a physical confrontation is to cut off the oxygen to your brain, so it's important for you to know how to escape and counter that assault.

The startle reflex is your natural response to sudden noise or pain. Everyone has it, and I'm going to give you four steps to change your startle reflex into an effective defense technique I call the "converted startle."

Because police training is in the news we thought it was a good time to ask veteran officers and trainers how they would improve law enforcement training and make it more effective. The following is collected from the comments of more than a dozen sources.

How many times do we consider what we would do if someone introduced a knife into a fight in which we were already engaged? Do we have the ability to draw and fire? Can we create distance or even defend ourselves properly in order to survive the attack? These are questions rarely addressed.

Even a well-trained officer can find him- or herself on the ground when initiating an arrest. Things happen quickly and things can get ugly quickly. Be sure that you are ready to counter any grabs for your weapons.

In the fourth edition of Police's Defensive Tactics Training videos, the instructors at the Lab MMA Training Center in Glendale, Ariz., demonstrate strikes and counters that can be used at extremely close range in order to stop attacks and take suspects into custody.